


Interlude: Karaoke Night

by BelaBoo



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 20:10:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17049782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelaBoo/pseuds/BelaBoo
Summary: There's a new business venture in town. And in the Good Place people support their neighbours' endeavours - even if it involves karaoke, right?





	Interlude: Karaoke Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eisoj5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisoj5/gifts).



*Knock, knock.*��“Yoohoo! Chidi! Eleanor!?”

Eleanor looked up. “It’s Tahani - quick, hide.” 

Chidi gave her a pointed look, and then at the book she had been studying.

“I mean, hide this book,” she amended. “Don’t want her to realise that I don’t really belong here, ha-ha, that would be really - oh.” 

“I let myself in”, Tahani said, as she swept into the room, Jason trailing behind her. “Jianyu and I had the most BRILLIANT idea. Gunnar and Antonio are opening a Chinese karaoke restaurant tonight, and I thought the four of us could go and partake in the festivities. It’ll be jolly good fun.” 

“Fun,” Chidi and Eleanor echoed. 

***********************  
“I don’t know why karaoke is allowed in the Good Place”, Eleanor complained as they left their house. “Karaoke is never good. There’d better be enough sake on offer to get us drunk enough to sing.”

“Sake is Japanese, not Chinese.” Chidi corrected her. 

“Whatever, Chinese, Japanese, same thing.” 

“They are entirely different countries with entirely different cultures, miles and miles apart from each other.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t tell me you’re looking forward to karaoke. I bet you have a stomachache.” 

“I’m happy to be supporting Gunnar and Antonio”, Chidi reasoned, “my happiness is not dependent solely on my wellbeing, but on the wellbeing of the collective.” 

“So you’ll be getting up for a song then. What’ll it be? Total Eclipse of the Heart? Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing? Eye of the Tiger?” 

Chidi laughed nervously. “You don’t HAVE to sing.” �  
“I’m pretty sure you do. That’s the rules.” 

“Oh-ohhhh I have a stomachache.” 

*******************************************

Chidi was right. There was no sake. But there was a whole lot of cheap tasting wine, and Eleanor had downed quite a lot of it, and found she was almost enjoying herself. 

‘How about a duet?’ she asked Chidi, hopefully. 

He looked around nervously. ‘I think there are still other people waiting for the karaoke machine. Bad luck.’

‘The night is young’, Tahani trilled. ‘There's plenty of time for duets, solos, and all sorts - including, it would seem, completely butchering Tainted Love, which is usually a wonderful song, by my friends Marc and David.’ She cast a forlorn look at the young man on the stage who looked a lot more like he was eating the microphone than singing into it, and kept getting too close and sending a screech reverberating out around the room. 

‘I only wish that my soulmate and I could do a duet’, she lamented, ‘But as you know Jianyu has taken a vow of silence and I still haven't convinced him that it's okay to give it up, now that we're in The Good Place.’

‘That's our song!’ Eleanor exclaimed. ‘Never Gonna Give You Up! Ooh. Do you think you can Rick roll here?’ She didn't wait for a reply, standing up and making her way onto the stage. ‘Excuse me, is anyone waiting? No? My turn then!’ 

Chidi shrunk down into his seat as she selected the song and began to sing. 

‘What - what is she doing?’ he asked moments later. 

‘I think she's serenading you’, Tahani said, at the moment that Eleanor slid forward on her knees towards Chidi, beckoning towards him and belting out ‘never gonna say goodbyeyeye’. ‘How lovely, although I do think she could have chosen a more romantic song. My friend Taylor wrote some that would be appropriate - though most of her songs are about being stung and betrayed by love.’

‘I need to duck out for some air’, Chidi said, as Eleanor was sounding her final notes. ‘Excuse me.’

‘And I need to pop to the powder room. Are you okay here?’ Tahani asked Juan yu. Jason nodded serenely. 

‘Oh man, this is great! I don't know why I didn't want to come’, Eleanor said as she sat back down, picking up a glass of wine. 

‘This is totally dope!’ Jason agreed in a whisper, after looking around to make sure nobody was watching. ‘Karaoke is my JAM, man. But I can't do a song because of this stupid monk's vow of silence and I'm miserable.’ 

‘Guess that kind of puts a damper in things. More wine?’ 

Jason nodded, holding out his empty glass. ‘Whoopsie!’ Eleanor said, as she poured more down his front than she did into his glass. ‘Guess we'd better get some more! Waiter!’ 

*************  
‘Pretty please?’

‘No.’

‘Pretty pretty please?’

‘No.’

‘Pretty pretty please with rainbows and sprinkles and moral philosophy on top?’

‘No - what does that even mean?’ 

Eleanor looked puzzled, and pondered her glass for a moment. ‘Dunno. I think I maybe used the wine too much.’

‘Well’, reasoned Tahani, ‘since my soulmate is silent and your soulmate won't sing, why don't you and I do a song together?’ 

‘Great!’ Eleanor said. ‘Let's go! Ooh. Let It Go. That's a good one.’

‘Overdone’, Tahani vetoed. ‘If we're going Disney let's go old school. Nobody will be expecting that.’

‘I don't think anyone is expecting anything’, Chidi put in, looking at the varying levels of drunkeness around them.

‘Ooh, I've got it!’ Tahani said. ‘You've Got a Friend in Me. Because you really have got a friend in me.’

‘Thank you, Tahani, I'm touched. And Toy Story. Solid choice.’ 

‘Why do I have a bad feeling about this?’ Chidi asked no one in particular.

*************  
“You’ve got a friend in me.” Eleanor flung out a hand, accidentally hitting Tahani in the face.

“You’ve got a friend in me.” Tahani elbowed her, forcing her way to the front of the stage.

“You’ve got troubles, and I’ve got ‘em too  
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you”

Eleanor tried to grab the mic from Tahani, who jerked away hissing that she didn’t need two.

“We stick together and we see it through.” The pair now had their legs entangled as they fought to be centre stage. 

“‘Cause you’ve got a friend in me.” They were precariously close to the edge. 

“You’ve got a friend in me”. 

They steadied for a moment, and it looked as if they might hold - but then they toppled down onto the floor ungraciously.

Eleanor groaned. “Nobody really likes karaoke. Nobody.”

“I concur” Tahani said. “Also I think I’m going to be sick. 

Four miserable (and slightly green) faces looked at each other. 

“THIS is the BAD Place!”


End file.
